TréguierFoot in the water or on land, villages are an integral part of Brittany. Sometimes medieval, sometimes more modern, they are full of treasures and legends that make the whole region vibrate! Hamlets, villages, towns, places …
This is where the Breton heart beats! So, forget the big cities, crowded public transport and shopping malls, during your stay on the Pink Granite Coast, we take you to discover the 8 most beautiful villages of Brittany.
Tréguier
Visite guidées Artiste à Tréguier
L'oeil De Paco Tréguier (3)
To begin this tour of the most beautiful towns, communes and villages in Brittany, we suggest you enter by the big door, the one of the city of Tréguier.
In order to access it, you will not need to ring or knock, this passage is actually a paved alley located between two medieval pavilions. Yes, in Tréguier as everywhere in Brittany, you will never be refused entry ! Behind this door, it’s a journey through Breton history that awaits you with the first step: the Middle Ages!
Between the alleys and the colorful half-timbered houses, you’ll feel like you’re back in the century of knights! But let the more daring among you rest assured, there will be no dragons or sword fights! Instead, you will be able to enjoy the charm of one of the most beautiful villages in Brittany.
The program of this day? A stroll between the narrow streets, a discovery of the city’s hidden gardens, a visit to the Saint-Tugdual cathedral and a visit to the birthplace of a local celebrity, the writer Ernest Renan.
If during your stay on the Pink Granite Coast you are looking for the business district, it is in La Roche-Derrien that you will find it. In this Silicon Valley made in Brittany, no skyscrapers or start-ups, but the remains of the linen and slate trades as well as the quays of what was once the most important port in the region. For before becoming one of the most beautiful villages in Brittany, La Roche-Derrien was a thriving city that prospered thanks to the trade of linen, slate, salt and wine.
Today, the medieval bustle has given way to quietude, but the flea markets and traditional festivals perpetuate the town’s glorious past. Between the rich half-timbered houses and the small stone houses, in this village of character, you will feel as if you were transported to the 16th century.
To continue this immersion, head for the church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria where a 3D experience mixing the sounds of armor and neighing awaits you. Finally after battling and to recover from so many emotions, settle down on the banks of the Jaudy for a nap under the Breton sun.
La Roche-Jaudy
Chapelle du Calvaire La Roche Derrien
On the road to Brittany’s most beautiful villages, the sea is never far away! And as you wind your way between the ruins of the Roman oppidum and the Notre-Dame du Yaudet chapel, an iodized air is felt. After having climbed the slopes of the paths leading to this religious building, the bay of the Virgin and the estuary of the Léguer are revealed. Before diving in, head first, push the doors of this sanctuary dating from the 11th century. Inside, altarpieces, models of boats and representations mixing Breton traditions and religion give the place an incredible charm.
Then let the sea spray guide you, then go back down through moors and forests to the beaches and creeks. Feet in the water, with the picturesque buildings of the village as a backdrop, enjoy one of the most beautiful sceneries in Brittany.
Before castles, villas and mansions stood on the Pink Granite Coast, other stones served as the region’s greatest buildings. These stones are the menhirs and the dolmens, magical constructions anchored in the Breton legends. To see them, head to one of the most beautiful villages in Brittany: Trégastel.
As soon as you arrive, the dolmen of Kergüntuil and the menhir Trémarc’h are waiting to welcome you. After strolling around these megalithic sites, head to the coastline to observe other stones and rocks with unreal shapes. A crown, a crab claw, a dice, a painter’s palette… On this land of legend, the landscapes will tell you stories.
Finally, to come back to earth and leave this legendary world, take the path leading to Ploumanac’h, a commune elected favorite village of the French in 2015. Seeing its lighthouse, its small stone houses, its manors and its castle overlooking the coastline, you will understand why this village is one of the most beautiful in Brittany and even in France you will say the Bretons!
Are you still preferring modernity to ancient heritage? Good news, the history of Brittany did not stop in the Neolithic period and even less in the Middle Ages! At the beginning of the 20th century, in the middle of the Roaring Twenties, artists, aristocrats and other celebrities regularly came to take a (crowned) dip in the waters of the Pink Granite Coast. The small village of Saint-Michel en Grève still keeps in it the memories of this bygone era.
In this quiet village where we come today to enjoy the surrounding nature, 6 hotels and many villas once stood. And if today you can still see them, the frenzy of the roaring twenties has gradually faded away. Despite this, as you stroll through the streets of Saint-Michel-en-Grève, it is easy to imagine the tourists of the last century coming to enjoy the sun and the softness of one of the most beautiful villages in Brittany.
As you walk along the coastline, close your eyes for a moment, you may hear some jazz music accompanying the sound of the waves.
After wandering through the most beautiful villages of Brittany, you’ll be in need of some comfort! So we give you an appointment in the commune of Plouaret, a village known for its many manors. Between the stones of its superb buildings, it is all the history of Brittany which is revealed. Push the doors of the manors, walk between fountains, gardens and small paths. At the end of your day, settle down comfortably on the small village square and enjoy a delicious sugar pancake (or salted butter caramel!) in a 100% Breton atmosphere.
Eglise de Plouaret
Eglise de PlouaretDid you like the charm of the villages of Tréguier and Saint-Michel en Grève? You’ll love rural Brittany and its inhabitants just as much. Here fishermen and farmers shape the territory. To discover the region in a different way, we invite you to the small town of Hengoat. In the fields surrounding the town you will find onions, leeks, strawberries, potatoes and even snail farms.
Here, even if the carts have given way to tractors and more modern facilities, we find all the charm of Antan. Between its church and stone farms, Breton-speaking inhabitants and green plains as far as the eye can see, Hengoat has remained one of the most picturesque villages in Brittany.
Pouldouran - La Roche-Jaudy
Pouldouran. Routoirs à Lin 2bNow that you have met the farmers, all that remains is to get to know the fishermen. For that, you don’t have to go very far, in the neighboring village of Pouldouran, you will be able to stroll between boats and fishermen’s houses along the river of Jaudy. And even if today on the banks, you will see more angling enthusiasts than sailors, this rural Breton village has remained in its juice for the greatest happiness of visitors.
